We got a big unexpected display of the Aurora Borealis aka the Northern Lights on Friday night early June 1st near Elliston, Avon and Helena Montana. It was a BIG and beautiful. The aurora borealis does not come this far south that often, especially as big and strong as this activity was. The northern lights are a little hard to predict and there was no forecast for such high activity this night. It was by total accident that I went outside around midnight and noticed them. I grabbed my camera and tripod and we quickly piled in the car to find a good vantage point to get some good aurora borealis photos.
What is the aurora borealis? What is the northern lights?
The bright dancing curtains of light of the aurora borealis are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as “Aurora borealis” in the north and “Aurora australis” in the south. Auroral displays are in many colors with green and pink being the most common. Different shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been seen.
What Causes Aurora Borealis?
Huge storms on the sun send gusts of charged solar particles hurtling across space. If Earth is in the path of the particle stream, our planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere react. When the charged particles from the sun strike atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, they excite those atoms, causing them to light up.
The variations in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding.
The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by oxygen. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red auroras.
What happens in an aurora is similar to what happens in the neon lights used on many business signs. Electricity is used to excite the atoms in the neon gas within the glass tubes of a neon sign. That’s why these signs give off their bright colors.
Predicting Auroral Activity
Auroral activity forecasts are based on the planetary magnetic index, solar winds measurements and other factors, such as cloud cover, moonlight and urban light pollution, so what you see will be strongly affected by your particular location and meteorological luck. For my location in mid Montana, I need a planetary magnetic index, Kp of 5 or greater. This predicts a High Auroral Activity. The Kp ranges from 0-9 levels. I keep an eye on the aurora forecast. When it hits 5 or greater I check the sky around midnight to see if I can find any activity, but this is doesn’t mean you will see anything and as I mentioned above, on days with a low forecast you may see the best display you’ve ever seen.
One of the best auroral forecast sites is the Geophysical Institute’s Auroral Forecast website. You can select your region and see the Aurora activity level for the next few days. You can also signup to receive text alerts if the activity will be high.
The best time to observe auroras is near midnight local time. If you want to be a serious aurora watcher you need to plan on spending between 9pm and 3am looking for auroral activity. Auroral activity tends to come in waves throughout the evening, called auroral substorms. Even during high active periods there will be lulls in the activity. If you are patient, you will often see a new burst of activity.
I hope you have the opportunity to do some aurora watching. It is something you just have to experience.
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